MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Warner is cutting through to core gamers with ads for its zombie cheerleader action title Lollipop Chainsaw. The 360 and PS3 game – due on June 15th – is one of the few eye-catching releases in a relatively quiet summer. A?large-scale TV campaign will advertise the title during during Family …
Read More »E-Xpress expands low-price PC games catalogue
Indian games distributor E-Xpress Interactive has expanded its E-play range of low priced PC games to over 120 titles. The E-play catalogue contains games priced between Rs 199 ($4) and Rs 299 ($6) from publishers such as Ubisoft, Square Enix, THQ, Sega and Take-Two. While console gaming remains the highest …
Read More »UK games retail generated £10.45m last week
The launch of Prototype 2 helped the boxed market rise slightly over the prior week, with overall unit sales up five per cent to 441,401 games sold. It’s Activision’s first No.1 of the year. UK games retail generated 10.45m overall from sales last week – an increase of eight per …
Read More »HMV poised to return to profitability
Sales at entertainment retailer HMV fell 19.4 per cent year-on-year for the 52 week ending April 28th. Like-for-like sales fell 11.7 per cent during the period. For the 17 weeks ending April 28th total sales fell 19.2 per cent and like-for-like sales fell 12.9 per cent. Profits are expected to …
Read More »More Sonic accessories due in September
Peripherals specialist Lazerbuilt has secured the rights to Sonic the Hedgehog. The firm will produce accessories for consoles and mobile devices.The range is due to arrive at retail this September. Lazerbuilt says it will not only target children aged between seven and 12 years old with Nintendo 3DS and DS …
Read More »Valve launches remote Steam download service
Steam users can now initiate downloads and manage their games through a web browser or mobile device. A new Steam Beta client has gone live which, once installed, lets users download titles while they’re out which will become ready to play when they get home. Players have to make sure …
Read More »Argos owner suffers 60% profit slump
The Home Retail Group has suffered a 60 per cent year-on-year decline in profits after a poor performance from Argos. The Home Retail Group’s profits fell from 265.2m last year to 90.2m. The main culprit was Argos, whose sales declined seven per cent to 3.8bn. While the Group’s performance in …
Read More »Minister dampens Sunday trading hours hopes
Hopes of a more permanent relaxation of Britain’s tough Sunday trading laws appear to have been dashed. The coalition Government had previously announced plans to relax Sunday trading regulations throughout the London Olympics. Some had hoped that the changes would be preserved permanently if proved successful. However, Retail Week quotes …
Read More »Toys R Us facing financial struggle
The owners of Toys R Us are expected to appoint the finance firm Cairn Capital to help in the restructuring or refinancing of debts of 400 million, according to The Sunday Times. The toy specialist is considering its options, including adding new equity and extending debt repayment deadlines. The current …
Read More »BBC reveals free-to-play Strictly Come Dancing game
Strictly Come Dancing: The Game. It’s real. And it’s free to play. And you can play it now. It may not be as obvious and natural a fit as the BBC’s other gaming license – Doctor Who – but as BBC Worldwide digital entertainment and games boss Robert Nashak observes: …
Read More »